The catacombs were dark, damp, and cold. This section was closed to the public – not that much of the catacombs was actually open for exploration, to be fair – and water seeped down the walls in rivulets, slowly rising as they went deeper down until it covered the floor. The only light came from Sandy's streams of dreamsand, hovering over their heads to let them see, and the silence was deafening and ominous, broken only by the buzzing of Tooth's wings and the splashing of their feet through the water pooled on the floor.
That, and Bunny's soft grumbling about wet fur and the misery thereof. Jack was walking on a thin skiff of ice on top of the water, but he kept his mouth shut about the particular fun that was bare feet and ice. It wasn't like it bothered him much anyway.
Jack clutched his staff tight and kept close to the other Guardians. Remembering what he had said about his earlier experience in Pitch's lair – and assuming, from the little of Jack they had managed to learn over this hectic weekend, that he was severely downplaying what had happened – the other Guardians didn't comment on his sudden jumpiness.
If they all were thinking of Katherine, none of them were going to say so. Still, there was no words needed between them before they found themselves taking protective positions around their newest, keeping it subtle so Jack was in the center of their formation without even realizing it.
With Sandy on point, North and Tooth watching the sides, and Bunny covering the rear, they moved quickly through the tunnels, faster than a human would dare. Sandy's sand explored the tunnels around them, searching for the entrances invisible to human eyes, probing spots eyes couldn't see and senses couldn't reach, keeping them on track and away from danger.
Sandy perked up, an exclamation point hanging over his head, brighter than neon in the tunnel as he pointed to an entrance to Pitch's lair, only visible as a darker patch of blackness in the dark shadows and invisible to human senses. They slid into the dark entrance silently, all senses on alert and keeping pressed close together.
The tooth boxes were still piled carelessly into huge piles on the floor, and Tooth stiffened at the disregard to her life's work. Her fairies rushed her, chirping excitedly and clustering around their mother as soon as they spotted her.
She was obviously furious over the treatment of the tooth boxes, her tail feathers ruffling and flaring even as she attempted to comfort her girls, the tiny fairies cooing and snuggling against her.
If the other Guardians had any lingering doubts about Jack betraying them for his tooth box and abandoning or trading Baby Tooth for it, they were dispelled in the face of the fairies' joy as fairies peeled off from the group around Tooth, crowding around Jack and Baby Tooth, chirping worriedly at both of them.
Quite a few of the little fairies, obviously worn out from their ordeal, actually perched on Jack, hiding in his hood or clustering on his shoulders, a few extra tired fairies tucking themselves into his hoodie pocket. His hair, though, was claimed by Baby Tooth, who nestled down in it until she was barely visible like it was her own personal soft, cool little nest.
They'd never seen the baby teeth perch on anyone but a Guardian, and sidelong glances and uncomfortable shifting said clear as a shout how each of them remembered only now that it had been ages since any little fairy had tried to perch on one of them.
A few hesitantly hovered over the other Guardians, and soothed something deep inside when they gingerly settled on shoulders, five or six to a Guardian.
Jack laughed as the baby teeth settled down, relaxing as their squirming and cuddling as they made themselves comfortable tickled him, distracting him from the surroundings until he wasn't jumping at each little noise, although the other Guardians forced themselves to stay alert instead of just enjoying the picture Jack and the baby teeth made.
Even if Pitch was probably too tired to do more than watch them sulkily from the shadows, they didn't want to spend any more time here than they had to.
Bunny eyed the piles of golden boxes, an ear flickering as he sized them up. "Got any suggestions for how we get these all home, Toothie?"
She fluttered over the largest pile, beginning to dart between them frantically. "I...I really don't know...there's just so many..."
Sandy tugged on Jack's sleeve, images flashing quickly by. Jack's eyes lit up and he rose slowly into the air so as not to disturb the Baby Teeth still perched all over him until he floated beside Tooth.
"Would the cold hurt them? The boxes?" he asked her as soon as he could get her attention. "Like, snow or ice?"
"Well, no," she answered, obviously not sure where Jack was going with this. "It shouldn't. They're protected against just about everything we could think of, including cold and water."
"Sandy has an idea," he answered shortly. Down below, North was opening portals, calling elves and yeti through and opening another to Punjam Hy Loo as the yeti immediately started to collect up the tooth boxes and cart them through to Tooth's palace without needing told what to do – not when it was so obvious.
Bunny scouted the perimeter of the area, making sure Pitch didn't try anything. Unlikely, in his present defeated state, but there was no sense in taking chances when they'd come so close to losing everything once today already.
Jack, with a grin at Sandy, started making it snow over the tooth boxes, shoving them together into huge snowballs as soon as there was enough. With a tip of his sand hardhat, Sandy spun his cloud into a bulldozer, pushing the balls of snow and tooth boxes through the portal alongside the yeti line.
The tooth collecting started going much faster at that point, with so many tooth boxes caught up and moved in each giant ball. The baby teeth scoured the lair floor, making sure none of the teeth had fallen out of the boxes or were left behind as the piles were cleared.
Baby Tooth, flitting carefully back to settle in Jack's hair, whistled out the all clear and her sisters began zipping through the portal, already starting to pair off and drag the tooth boxes back to where they belonged.
With a last glace around the cold, dark lair, the Guardians and yeti followed.
The baby teeth were a blur as they returned the tooth boxes to their proper places, restored by their short rest and the belief of the children, enthused and eager to get everything back the way it should be.
Jack stood in the center of Punjam Hy Loo, watching them swirl around in blurs of shimmering color with awe and wonder painted over his face.
The other Guardians came up behind him quietly, and he was watching the Baby Teeth so intently he didn't notice them standing there until Tooth laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
He turned to face her, a grin of pure joy lighting up his face, bringing answering smiles from them. Tooth squeezed his shoulder, fluttering closer, smile faltering. "Jack...we're sorry about this morning. We were wrong to turn you away without listening."
Jack shook his head, still grinning, though it dimmed a few degrees. "I...it hurt, but I...I understand, really. I just...really don't want to talk about it any more right now, okay?"
"Okay, Jack," she said after a brief moment. "But we have to...eventually. About more than just today. There's a lot we have to talk about."
He fiddled with his staff, hands tracing the cracks in the wood and obviously uncomfortable, but nodded. Moving slowly, Tooth slid her arms around him, this time holding the hug, giving him time to return it. It took him a few seconds to do so, and it was obvious he was a bit unsure and uneasy with the contact even as he was hungry for it.
When she moved away, North moved in to take her place, sweeping Jack up in a huge bear hug, muttering apologies for doubting him and receiving apologies in return, though Jack's were gasped out against North's trademark rib cracker of a hug.
Sandy swooped in as soon as North let Jack go and Jack hugged him eagerly, still relieved over his return from the dead. If he cried, just a little, no one said a word.
Bunny hung back, moving forward once Sandy had backed off, offering a hug with an awkward but heartfelt smile, but not forcing the hug on Jack. Jack hesitated for a moment before easing into Bunny's open arms. Their hug was a little awkward, since they had only properly started talking and forming trust early that morning, but there was a silent world of promises and apologies in it.
"Jackie?" Bunny said quietly, stroking a gentle paw over Jack's hair. "Pitch was wrong. We do accept you. You're one of us now. Ya should'a been sooner, if we'd been payin' attention, but we're here now."
Jack's smile was blinding as he pulled back. "Yeah, I am. I just...I'm so happy we're all friends now!"
He didn't notice the other Guardians freezing or the winces and expressions of shock that passed over their faces, distracted as Baby Tooth zoomed in and chirped for attention, showing off for him as he turned away to coo over her healed wing, which she'd been favoring until then. By the time he turned back they had hidden the shock, managing to smile back at him without it seeming too awkward.
"I'd really like to stay, but I kinda took some hard hits today. I need to go find a snowbank or something and get some rest," Jack said apologetically, shifting his weight and tossing his staff across his shoulders, and three of the four winced. Sandy looked confused and worried, having not seen Jack take most of those hits today.
"There is infirmary at Pole," North said immediately, taking an involuntary step forward as he remembered that impact Jack had taken with the dumpster, cursing himself for forgetting. Jack was walking and acting unharmed, but...that had to have hurt.
"It's okay, big guy, I think I just need to take a nap in a snowbank for awhile and I'll be fine. The cold'll help. Though..." he paused, apparently thinking of something. "It's just...usually I'd go down to Antarctica, since there aren't that many really cold places right now, but...I'd kinda like to avoid that for awhile. One of those tell you later things," he said to the immediate questions that he saw in their eyes. "Do ya mind if I bunk down outside the Pole?"
"Of course not!" North said immediately. "Yeti will let you in when you wake up, come talk to me, yes? We have much to talk about."
"Sounds great. I'll see you all later, then, right?" They nodded and he grinned again, leaping onto the wind and speeding off toward the Pole.
The original four Guardians were silent as they watched Jack disappear into the distance, not even waiting for North to open a portal for him.
Then all four began babbling at once, talking over each other (or making faster and faster sand symbols, in Sandy's case), growing louder and louder until a pack of baby teeth came out of nowhere to swirl around them, poking and cheeping.
They dispersed as quickly as they'd descended, leaving the four Guardians silently staring at each other again, more ruffled then they'd been before.
Bunny scratched an ear with a foot, giving a grunt and a sigh. "All right mates," he said before the others could start babbling again. "I'd say Jackie doesn't really realize what he signed up for."
Tooth zipped around the receiving area in agitation, hands fluttering around her. "But how...everyone knows what being a Guardian means!"
The group was silent, not sure what to say to that. Everyone had known what being a Guardian meant, but...
*lightbulb!*
All eyes turned to Sandy as he tossed up symbols, the tooth, present, egg, and swirl of dreamsand he used to represent them, keeping them close together and then drifting apart slowly, looking at the others sadly as he drifted back to the ground.
"Well...maybe we did drift apart a bit..." Tooth said, fluttering. "But...we're all so busy..."
"It's just like with the sprogs," Bunny said, ears pricking up in realization before they flattened to his back. "We were so busy doing our jobs, we didn't take care of...well..."
"Of what's really important," Tooth finished for him, reaching to touch him and hesitating. And didn't that say it all, she thought when she hesitated. Married for so many years, and yet they hesitated to touch. "And now I don't think Jack has a clue what we were really asking him to do, besides protect the children."
"Sandy is right," North declared. "We have not been good examples of Guardianship. And Jack...he has been alone a long time, yes? So he has given up on things like romance and friendship until now. Must think we do not have marriage anymore, just team."
Bunny snorted. "Good examples. Right. So what now? Frostbite's gonna toss a blizzard if we just up an' tell him he married all o' us by takin' the oath."
"What if he doesn't want us?" Tooth gasped, shock bringing her to a standstill. "He...he'll be so angry, we never even told him about all this and now...oh! We never even asked if he wanted us! We just assumed!"
North paced as he thought while Bunny sank down onto his haunches, ears falling down his back. It was true, he realized – they'd never outright asked Jack if he wanted to be part of the whole Guardian experience or if he even knew what it was, just assumed he knew what that was. Never asked if he wanted to be a Guardian at all, just assumed he would, because if Manny said he was one of them then he was, without checking to see what Jack wanted first.
He'd never felt so bloody stupid in his entire life. Why did they listen to Manny anymore anyway?
"HA! Idea! Is so simple!" North exclaimed, spinning back to face the others, coat whirling about him.
Bunny was just grateful he didn't use the swords this time to make his point.
Sandy smiled brightly and innocently while sending up images that made several of the Baby Teeth faint even as the rest tried to cover each others' eyes while simultaneously trying to peek at Sandy's images.
Tooth gasped, trying to bite back giggles. Bunny was chuckling even as he looked away, not bothering to hide it. "Bit early for that sort 'a thing, mate. Don't think Jackie's ready for that."
"Ha, is good idea Sandy, but no. We must woo Jack!" North exclaimed.
"North, what?" Tooth asked, fluttering up closer, as the other two thought it over. "It's already been done, we can't change that, so how's that going to help?"
"Think it over, Toothie," Bunny said soothingly, getting up to rest a paw on her shoulder, only hesitating a moment. "North's right fer once. We court 'im proper, like we should'a done from the beginning. Show we want 'im here enough ta do it right, that we respect 'im enough to go through the whole fuss, then when we do tell 'im about the oath, it'll be like a present, right? Then we can let 'im choose if he wants it or not, like we should'a in th' first place."
"Exactly! Is good idea, no?"
"Is good idea, yes," Bunny said with just a hint of mockery to his voice, "but while we neet ta court Jack proper – an' no argument there, since we might not 'a known it before, but we do want 'im here, so we just gotta show 'im – how do we bring someone new in when we've fallen apart?"
Tooth nodded firmly. "We can't court him properly yet, until everything's taken care of, but that doesn't mean we can't let him know we're interested," she agreed. "So...how do we fix us?"
North blinked at the pair, honestly confused. "What do you mean, fix us? What is wrong with us? Drifted apart yes, but already back together."
Sandy facepalmed even as Bunny huffed. Hadn't he already said what was wrong? "It's just like with the sprogs, mate." He sighed, running a paw over an ear. "Look, I'm knackered. I ain't gonna make sense right now."
*zzzs sun moon sun north pole question mark*
"That's a good idea, Sandy," Bunny agreed. "The Warren ain't ready for company yet." He shivered a little, remembering the desecration of his home, the invasion of his tunnels and their sanctuary. He was gaining strength again, but still...
"I'm not sure I can leave my girls alone so soon..." Tooth said uncertainly. Baby Tooth and several of her sisters zipped up to hover in front of their mother, chittering rapidly. Tooth may have been the only one able to understand them clearly when they spoke so fast, but it was still fairly obvious from all the gesturing they were offering to take charge while she was talking with the other Guardians. "Well...if you girls are sure..."
Bunny patted her shoulder. His Warren wasn't the only home to be invaded this weekend, no wonder Tooth wasn't sure about leaving the girls alone again so soon. And she'd never actually left them to collect the teeth without her directing them for long...
"If all think we need to talk and girls are sure they can handle it, then give them chance, yes? They will know where to find you if they need help. I see you all tomorrow," North agreed, yawning. "Need to fetch sleigh and head back to Pole."
With faint goodbyes the four went their separate ways, each with heads full of buzzing, uncomfortable thoughts.